A Simple Equation

I'm not much good at math, and I have no trouble admitting that. There's one particular equation that I'm having trouble with right now: How to make $650 in bills and $450 in rent come out of an $800 paycheque. We've already got so little in the bank that we're actually in overdraft on our overdraft, and all of the credit cards are full... except the new one that Canadian Tire was foolish enough to give us. I kind of would rather not use it, for obvious reasons.

The good news is that, now that I'm back to work, we'll have a little more money coming in. Not more than I was getting from EI when I was on maternity leave, but some. The bad news is that I won't get my first paycheque for at least a week, possibly 2 (depending on how the pay schedule goes). The other good news is that I have a great business now with Discovery Toys... the bad news is that now that I'm working, I have no time to work at it. And on and on it goes...

I'm happy with what we have, generally speaking. I don't need to go out and buy new clothes, and I'm just as happy getting books out of the library as I am buying them (and where would I keep them, anyway?). We get free movie rentals from A's work. I don't need to buy a lot of "stuff" or turn my home into a showplace, though I wish we could get A. more of the little things that he wants. I enjoy eating out, but cooking's OK... I just prefer to cook nicer things that Kraft Dinner a la wieners. And being able to pay the power and phone bills would be really great.

I keep telling myself that we're just in a temporary tight spot, but that's what I've been telling myself for the last 3 1/2 years. We're not big spenders, it's just that there's always something coming along that needs to get paid for, and it often ends up going on the credit cards: car repairs, moving half-way across the country, maternity leave... groceries...

Please keep your fingers crossed for us, and pray that we get approved for interest relief on A's student loans- that would give us a little breathing room for a few months. Finding a winning lottery ticket stuck to the bottom of my shoe would be nice, too. Whatever.